scilicet elabi si1l posset mortua; credo, quod nimium institerat2 viventi. "Cautus adito : neu desis operae neve immoderatus abundes. difficilem et morosum offendet3 garrulus; ultra1 90 non etiam sileas. Davus sis comicus atque stes capite obstipo, multum similis metuenti. obsequio grassare; mone, si increbruit aura, cautus uti velet carum caput; extrahe turba oppositis umeris; aurem substringe loquaci. importunus amat laudari: donec ohe iam! ' ad caelum manibus sublatis dixerit, urge, crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem. "Cum te servitio longo curaque levarit, 95 et certum vigilans,' quartae sit partis Ulixes,' 100 audieris, ' heres': ergo nunc Dama sodalis nusquam est ? unde mihi tam fortem tamque fidelem? sparge subinde et, si paulum potes, illacrimare; est5 gaudia prodentem voltum celare. sepulcrum permissum arbitrio sine sordibus exstrue: funus 105 egregie factum laudet vicinia. si quis forte coheredum senior male tussiet, huic tu dic, ex parte tua seu fundi sive domus sit emptor, gaudentem nummo te addicere. "Sed me imperiosa trahit Proserpina: vive valeque." 1 si] ut sic V. 4 ultro. a prudentem. 2 extiterat. 110 3 offendit pyl. 5 est deleted in a. Cf. "Davoque Chremeta eludente," Sat. i. 10. 40. wanted, of course, to see whether she could give him the slip when dead. I suppose, when she was living, he had borne too hard upon her. 88 Be cautious in your approach; neither fail in zeal, nor show zeal beyond measure. A chatterbox will offend the peevish and morose; yet you must not also be silent beyond bounds. Act the Davus of the comedy," and stand with head bowed, much like one overawed. With flattery make your advances; warn him, if the breeze stiffens, carefully to cover up his precious pate; shoulder a way and draw him out of a crowd; make a trumpet of your ear when he is chattering. Does he bore you with his love of praise? Then ply him with it till with hands uplifted to heaven he cry “enough!" and blow up the swelling bladder with turgid phrases. 99 And when from your long care and servitude he sets you free, and wide awake you hear the words, "To one-fourth let Ulysses be heir," then, now and then, scatter about such words as these, “Ah! is my old friend Dama now no more? Where shall I find one so firm, so faithful?" and if you can do a bit of it, drop in some tears. If your face betray joy, you can hide it. If the tomb is left to your discretion, build it in style : let the neighbours praise the handsome funeral. If one of your co-heirs happens to be older than you, and has a bad cough, say to him that if he would like to buy land or a house that is in your share, you would gladly knock it down to him for a trifle. But Proserpine, our queen, calls me back. Live and fare well! VI TOWN AND COUNTRY LIFE THIS famous Satire, which has been so happily imitated by Pope, contrasts the annoyances and discomforts of life in Rome with the peace and happiness enjoyed by the poet on his beloved Sabine farm. It is probably owing to its peculiarly personal tone that for this Satire Horace does not set up a dialogue framework, but reverts to the monologue form of the First Book, although a large portion of the poem, viz. the fable of the Town and the Country Mouse, is put into the mouth of another speaker. Kiessling has pointed out how the hours of morning (1-23) and of evening (60-76), as spent in the country, suggest the two side-pictures of a triptych, which enclose the central and larger picture, that of a day passed in Rome (23-59). The contrast thus presented between the peacefulness of rural life and the restlessness of city life is then summed up in the delightful allegory with which the Satire concludes (79-117). Nothing could be more artistic than such an arrangement. Besides being one of the most charming of Horace's compositions, this Satire is important for settling some of the chronology of Horace's life. Thus 1. 38 seems to refer to the time which included the Battle of Actium and succeeding events, when Maecenas, in the absence of Octavian, had full control in Rome and Italy. The mention of the Dacians in 1. 53 reminds us that these people wavered between Octavian and Antony and that Crassus was sent against them in 30 B.c. Again, the assignment of lands to the veterans, referred to in l. 55, is doubtless the reward promised for services at Actium. In this connexion some of the soldiers mutinied in the winter of 31 B.C. The Satire therefore was composed late in 31 B.C. or early in 30 B.C., and it follows from 11. 40 ff. that Horace entered the circle of Maecenas in 39 or 38 B.C. The Sabine farm was given to the poet some six years later. VI. Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus, hortus ubi et tecto vicinus iugis aquae fons et paulum silvae super his foret. auctius atque di melius fecere. bene est. nil amplius oro, Maia nate, nisi ut propria haec mihi munera faxis. 5 si neque maiorem feci ratione mala rem nec sum facturus vitio culpave1 minorem, si veneror stultus nihil horum: "o si angulus ille proximus accedat, qui nunc denormat agellum! o2 si urnam argenti fors quae mihi monstret, ut illi, 10 thesauro invento qui mercennarius agrum illum ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico Hercule!" si quod adest gratum iuvat, hac prece te oro : pingue pecus domino facias et cetera praeter ingenium, utque soles, custos mihi maximus adsis! 15 Ergo ubi me in montes et in arcem ex urbe removi, quid prius illustrem saturis Musaque pedestri? nec mala me ambitio perdit nec plumbeus Auster autumnusque gravis, Libitinae quaestus acerbae. 1 -ve] -que a Goth. 2 heu p. In the opening words Horace gives utterance to a feeling of deep satisfaction as he contemplates the scene before him in the morning sunshine. His former prayer has been realized. Hence the past tense of erat. Mercury was god of luck and gain; Hercules the god of treasure-trove (see ll. 12, 13 below). |